I’ve developed a strong aversion to how losing teams finish out seasons in the NBA. Sometimes, it stinks like my socks after a pickup game. This week, the stink in Cleveland got so high that it reached a tipping point. Sports radio, fans around the water cooler, the blogosphere, and the media finally got fed up. People felt embarrassed after the lack of effort in the Brooklyn game, and the Boston game was probably a referendum on Byron Scott and the team’s future. That referendum wasn’t fair. The mob hadn’t been paying attention for the previous nine games. Their problem with the Brooklyn loss? It wasn’t entertaining enough. It was embarrassing. But how can fans and the media expect effort when it seems to some that this team is being sabotaged to prevent winning? And for what? …draft positioning in a mediocre draft. So with that in mind the Cavaliers had a lot to play for tonight (for once).

1st Quarter: The Cavs went to Tristan early and often, both in the post and in pick and roll, to good effect. The team seemed focus early. Unfortunately, Zeller got foul trouble again early. He doesn’t seem to know how to stop a penetrating player other than to foul. He’s going to have to work on that. Tristan had a couple shots blocked early by Chris Wilcox, mainly because he wasn’t warding off Wilcox with the off-ball shoulder, and because he doesn’t dunk one handed. He’s going to have to work on that. But TT mixed in some nice one handed push shots in traffic and two handed slams off feeds from Kyrie and Luke Walton to finish with a 9 point quarter. The Cavs were up 24-16 with about 3:30 left, but with characteristic bad shots, bad fouls, sluggish offense, missed rebounds, and plentiful turnovers they gave up a 14-0 run until Mo Speights got to the line to break the lid on the basket. The quarter ended with Boston up 28-26, with Boston shooting 62%.

2nd Quarter: Shavlik Randolph who was recently out of the league for almost 2 years, and has only played in 53 games since 2006, outrebounded three Cavs and then scored on them to open the quarter. He drew the third foul on Zeller on the next play, leading to Randolph’s 10th point in 6 minutes. Luke Walton turned his ankle, and since Boobie was out, we saw a lot of Kevin Jones after that, not that I noticed him much. Randolph continued to score at will, getting to his career high in points, 13, with 9:30 to go in the second quarter. Thompson continued to be a go-to scoring option in the pick and roll, transition, the post, and off the offensive boards. He had a beast of a first half with 21 points (a career high for a half), and 10 rebounds on 9-12 shooting. But he was routinely abused by Brandon Bass and his 16 foot jumpers (and ahem, Shavlik Randolph). Gee followed up two horrible shots with three straight buckets to finish the first half with 10 points and 6 boards. Kyrie was passive, but his 5 assists and 2 steals and general orchestrating of the offense was adequate, and enough to match the Celtics as the half ended with the score 52-52.

3rd Quarter: Jeff Green scored the first five for the C’s who dominated at the outset. The only points the Cavs scored in a 10-3 Boston start were from a 25 foot Ellington parabola as the shot clock expired. But after a coach Scott timeout, the Cavs notched 11 straight – 6 off of Kyrie threes — to counter as the quarter started to get ragged. Go-to Celtic Jeff Green was relegated the bench after picking up his fourth foul, and the Cavs played scrappier during this stretch as Kyrie asserted himself. But in words that have never been uttered in the NBA before, Fred McCleod quipped that the Cavs needed “to score before Shavlik Randolph comes back in the game.” Randolph, fortunately reverted back to his old ways: fouling and flailing. Gee, on the other hand, really looked sharp this quarter: playing from the corners with shots and dribble drives, and of course high percentage finishes in transition. TT kept getting to the line and kept converting. Furthermore, with Green on the bench, the Cavs defense was solid: holding Boston to 6 points over the final 7:50. Cavaliers finish the quarter up 74-68.

4th Quarter: Livingston played ok without his Herculoid running mate, Luke “Tundro” Walton who never came back after his injury. Shaun fed Zeller with a funky bullet pass at his face, and ZPA’s quick hands saved himself from another broken schnozz as he converted around the basket. Jason Terry made an inexplicably stupid play taking out Darius CJ Miles with a midcourt forearm shiver — an obvious flagrant foul. Miles made the freethrows to put the Cavs up 10. After a Zeller 22 footer, and a Miles runout, the Cavs were up 14. Of course Terry canned a three and Boston sicked Avery Bradley and his full court pressure on Livingston who coughed it up for 5 quick Boston points. After a Bradley three, Livingston scored a layup, which was countered with a Shavlik layup… UGH. Miles really attacked the basket and thankfully (WTF?) fouled Randolph out.

TT and Kyrie came back in with 6:40, and after a Boston miss, TT leveled Avery Bradley under his own basket with a unexpected but legal crack back screen that will make Bradley reconsider full court defense for the rest of the season. But Terry answered on the next possession with a corner three to cut the lead to 4 because of an inexcusably lazy closeout by Kyrie Irving. This led to a much needed Byron Scott timeout, 87-83, Cavs.

Crunch Time: Out of the timeout, TT thumped a putback after throwing his body around for two offensive rebounds. Canadian Dyamite! was absolutely Varejaoian: extending possessions, tipping balls off other players, fighting for each possession… Then, off a TT extended possession, Gee drove — out of control — and jumped with no where to go and as he hovered a foot above out of bounds and at the last second spotted a cutting Ellington who swished a mid post pull-up.

Avery Bradley is one of the premiere perimeter defenders in the NBA, and he caused havoc in this quarter, constantly hounding the ball. But what he gives Boston on defense, he takes away on defense. He had a crucial turnover by stepping out of bounds, and a couple big missed shots, and Doc Rivers was eventually forced to substitute Terrence Williams in to try to pick up the offense.

Free of Bradley, Kyrie kept shooting in isolation and kept missing. This was ill conceived considering how well all the other Cavs were playing on offense. But with two minutes left and a six point buffer, the lead held and so did the defense. The Cavs beat the constant press and Kyrie hit a pull-up from the free throw line to stretch the lead to 8. Out of a Boston timeout, Jeff Green flushed one to finish a drive from the right wing. Alonzo Gee yelled Olé! after the score. A subsequent Cleveland shot clock violation, a Boston miss and loose ball foul on Tristan closed this one out as TT swished his ninth consecutive freethrow to stretch the lead to 8 with 40 seconds left. Final score, 97-91 Cleveland.

Conclusions: It’s tough to know what to make of this one. After the first quarter, the Cavs held Boston to 34% shooting, but this was a Boston team missing its three best players from the beginning of the season. The Cavs won despite a fairly terrible Kyrie Irving shooting game of 4-20. Kyrie did have a few defensive highlights with a couple blocks and a couple steals, but he had some big lapses with rotations and that noticeably lazy closeout on Terry. He finished with 11 points, 8 assists, and 4 turnovers. Zeller was OK. He had a couple very timely buckets on his way to 9 points and 6 boards of 4 of 9 shooting. Ellington’s 12 points, 6 boards, 5-8 shooting from the floor, and decent defense were key contributions. CJ Miles’ 5-6 from the freethrow line were also key. Though his jumper wasn’t falling, he attacked the basket and got to the line, finishing with 9 points in 15 minutes. His defense wasn’t great, giving up 3 fouls in that time, and I counted more than a couple blown assignments.

Alonzo Gee played one of his best offenseive games of the season, shooting 8-15 on non threes (0-2 on those). He converted a lot of tough drives, finished well in transition, grabbed offensive rebounds, and converted some critical buckets to keep the pressure on the Celtics. He finished with16 points and 7 offensive boards and a game high +13. But on defense, he gave up 23 points and 4 dimes to Jeff Green on 8-13 shooting. He had more than a couple poor closeouts and gave up layups and dunks that he really shouldn’t have. The only thing that stopped Green tonight was his teammates’ turnovers and his own foul trouble.Kevin Jones got Mo Speights’ and Luke Walton’s minutes tonight on his way to 1-6 shooting and 8 boards in 22 minutes, but +10 for the game. I didn’t notice him much. The other guy getting Speights’ minutes: Tristan “Canadian Dynamite” Thompson. In his best game of his career, Tristan showed how good he can be. Finishing with 29 points and 17 rebounds, TT scored every way post player should score: post-ups, roll finishes, put backs, and plays in transition. His push shot was pure, and his footwork was the best I’ve seen all season: he used his strength to clear space, his quickness and footwork to claim that space, and his athleticism to finish. He was also a rebounding demon: going after every ball when he was on the floor. He should have had more plays run for him with as well as he was playing. He could have easily finished with 35. It was a glimpse of his potential when he plays with focus and will. He won this one for his coach: telling the press earlier Friday that the speculation on Scott was “bogus.” TT backed that speech up with his play.

This game was a Rorschach test for Cavs fans. Fans who think the Cleveland has been mostly tanking during this 10 game streak can say, “yep, when they needed to win to quell fan unrest, and they did.” Fans who think that Byron Scott is a bad coach and that this Cavs team isn’t very good can look at this game and say, “Woo hoo. The Cavs beat a team that is firmly implanted in the 7th seed in the East, and is sitting their two best players.” They have a point. The Celtics shot awfully. Some of that was by design, as the Cavs packed it in the paint and dared the Celtics to beat them from outside. The Celtics didn’t do it, but the Cavs gave up a lot of wide open corner threes, and the Celtics couldn’t convert, going 6-22 from the 3 point line. The Cavs also gave up 16 points and 7 rebounds in 13 minutes to Shavlik freaking Randolph. The Cavs interior defense mostly stunk. If the Celtics had anyone who could score in there, they probably would have won.

I don’t know what to think. For what it’s worth, Tristan Thompson won the completely unfair referendum tonight for coach Scott and the team’s future — next referendum Sunday.

“The Cavs interior defense mostly stunk. If the Celtics had anyone who could score in there, they probably would have won.”

I guess I just saw a totally different game. Their interior defense, after the first quarter, was stout. They gave up almost zero lay-ups, and were contesting almost everything. I mean, Boston shot 40% and I felt almost everytime they went inside, they were challenged. I mean your recap you basically say everyone played bad defense, and to me, neither the numbers nor the game show that.

As for Mo Speights, his time is almost up. I wouldn’t be shocked if Thompson didn’t get 40 minutes a night from here on out, and I’d bet my house that Speights is one of, if not THE guy, in the locker room making comments about Scott. Jones can’t score, but he moves his feet on defense and rebounds.

I always assumed the locker room defector was one of the vets. Most likely Speights, Cassepi or … Livingston.

Tristan was amazing. My primary issue with Scott over the past 10 games or so has been Tristan’s minutes. On this team, with these injuries he should never play under 30 minutes a night. If his and Zeller’s development is the primary lining to be had from this year they should be on the court as much as possible.

Nice to see TT stick his neck out for the coach (all too UNcommon these days) and then back up his comments with his play. That was a pleasant surprise.

I know that none of us knows what conversations Byron Scott has with the FO or with himself at night, but I just don’t believe there has been a single point this season where the mandate has been NOT to win. Here are some of the reasons why I believe that:

-Not only is there not an obvious #1 draft selection, there isn’t an obvious top 5. There really is no prize so valuable that a couple more ping pong balls is worth all the losing.
-Here is the list of players that have suited up for the Cavs this season with guaranteed money next season. In other words, there might be some sort of perverse incentive for them to not play their best in hopes of helping the team rebuild more quickly: Irving, Thompson, Waiters, Gee, Zeller, Varejao, Jones. That’s it. Walton, Gibson, Speights, Casspi, Miles, Ellington, Livingston, Pargo, Harangody, Samuels, Sloan, and Quinn – are playing for their futures this year. There’s no way any of those guys would be OK with trying to lose.
-Why bring back Kyrie Irving if the goal is to lose?
-Why not play Casspi, the guy that according to all the geniuses is so terrible he’s not worth his weight in gypsum. I mean, if the goal is to lose, right?
-The Cavs have implemented a zone defense with a month left in the season? because they want to lose more?

I’ve said this all season. Any losing is organic. The FO mandate is flexibility – maintaining that is going to sacrifice Wins this season. The injuries have been devastating. Varejao, Irving, and now Waiters have missed a lot of games. And there is still a talent deficiency.

I think fans on the “fire Byron” train might not be giving him enough slack for all the issues he’s had to face this season. And I thinks the very protective fans are in denial about a lot of things. First and foremost – this team was not “built to lose” and they aren’t trying to improve their draft position right now.

Sorry about the Darius Miles thing! I was obviously tired and channeling 2003 Nate Smith. I think I might have flipped past Ryan Reynolds speech to the basketball team in Van Wilder. Which led me to this… possibly the funniest IMDB profile in the site’s history.

Saying injuries have held the Cavs back is shaky. If they had been doing some things well this season (ball movement, play execution, defense, transition, etc..) and no longer were due to injuries, I could buy into it a little more. But what have they excelled at or done consistently at any point this season?

Using injuries as a reason for their poor play is basically saying that injuries have held back any progression we believed they would make. That’s a huge assumption. Individual accomplishments have been there, but fundamental flaws in team play still remain.

Let me put it like this….the Cavs are generally on track in terms of wins and losses from what we thought they would be. However, the train looks pretty wobbly. Warning signs are there that it could come flying off the rails. Not making any changes to steady things (mainly, Byron Scott) is risky.

This game illustrates why people who write about a team should not decide on a narrative and then write everything from the basis of that narrative. So the Cavs played very well and won a game verse a decent opponent. Instead of writing how cool and great that is we get to view it from the angle of the tanking narrative.

It couldn’t just be that the Cavs played poorly and have had some of their best players injured and missing games during the losing streak. It had to be because they were tanking. Now they couldn’t have just played well last night, it still has something to do with tanking.

This is the main problem with writing from the viewpoint of a certain outcome the entire season. Maybe in the future you should write about what’s happening, not about some preconceived notion of the team.

I agree with some commenters that some writers of this blog occasionally overreacts to losses, but the last recap had a million comments and I didn’t think it was necessary to throw my two cents in. Still, I appreciate the perspective even if I don’t always agree.

As for this win, Cols, the Celts without their 3 best players are hardly a decent team. It’s fun to win, and big props to TT, but let’s not overrate it. If there’s a narrative, it’s in your comments which always drum home the same tired points regardless of what’s actually written. Do you think the writers of this blog receive memos on a certain narrative to follow or something?

Eh, there may be no “mandate” to lose, but I do believe the roster, specifically at the start of the year, was definitely designed for just that. They may have not asked Byron Scott or the players to tank, but they themselves put together a roster that was meant to not be able to win games much. Worst bench ever. It wasn’t an accident.

Good summary! I;m suprised Nate didn’t elaborate the jab from Kyrie to Bradley in the 4th. Lol NBA TV announcers liked it and snickered, ” Oh oh there’s Kyrie giving Bradley the business” (laughter) Idk It looked like he elbowed him more in the throat than shoulder. It just looked like Kyrie had enough of him already.

Definitely agree with Korey – Dion’s ceiling is crazy high – he’s incredibly athletic and has fantastic court vision. He’s lacking touch on his passes and a good jumper, and needs to become more consistent, but, should he reach his potential he’ll be special.

Tristan has good potential as well, and has shown a serious penchant for good touch, but isn’t an insane athlete and lacks elite height – he’ll almost always have problems against bigger, stronger, longer PFs in man to man matchups.

Tristan also needs more minutes more consistently. I’m not saying that he’ll go apeshit every night but he should be playing 30 or more minutes a night.

We still have no clue what Tristan’s ceiling is. He really doesn’t have a comparable player in the league. Tyrus Thomas with a conscience is the one I see most but that’s not really spot on either. In the preseason Scott said that no one on the team worked harder in the offseason. Thompson’s play has backed up that statement. He also seems to have the makings of a leader for his defense of Scott and his follow up performance to back up his words. Hopefully the young core will be committed to not only pushing themselves, but one another.

I miss watching Dion play. I really do. Kyrie might be the best player on the team, but Dion is my favorite Cav. He has a swagger to him and fears no player or situation. He contributed much more to the Cavs run in the new year than he was given credit for. Even on his off nights, defenses had to respect his driving ability. I definitely think he has All-Star potential if he continues to play within himself. He and Kyrie both need to play off the ball better. If they can work on that during the summer they should be onr of the most versatile and dynamic guard tandems in the league.

I didn’t see the game; but I don’t think I needed to given the box score as it pertains to Tristan Thompson.

Sometimes, the biggest step a young player can take is that moment when he gets pissed off, and channels all of that anger into harmony with his talents, and he steps up to take the team on his back. Some players never have that “a-ha” moment. TT just did. Those are the moments that build confidence- to realize that he can dominate at the highest level if he puts his mind to it.

And once a player with TT’s ability gains confidence to match- the sky is the limit. From that standpoint, this may have been the most meaningful game of the year for the 2014 Cavs.

The Lineup: (Click for Author’s Archive)

Nate Smith is an Associate Editor. He grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and moved to NE Ohio in 2000. He adopted the Cavs in 2003 and graduated from Kent State in 2009 with a BA in English. He can be contacted at oldseaminer@gmail.com or @oldseaminer on Twitter.

Tom Pestak is an Associate Editor. He's from the west side of Cleveland and lives and (mostly) dies by the success and (mostly) failures of his beloved teams. You can watch his fanaticism during Cavs games @tompestak.

Robert Attenweiler is a Staff Writer. Originally from OH, he's long made his home in NYC where he writes plays and screenplays (www.disgracedproductions.com) some of which end up being about Ohio, basketball or both. He has also written for The Classical and the blog Raising the Cadavalier. You can contact him at rattenweiler@gmail.com or @cadavalier.

Benjamin Werth is a Staff Writer. He was born in Cleveland and raised in Mentor, OH. He now lives in Germany where he is an opera singer and actor. He can be reached at blfwerth@gmail.com.

Cory Hughey is a Staff Writer. He grew up in Youngstown, the Gary, Indiana of Ohio. He graduated from Youngstown State in 2008 with a worthless telecommunications degree. He can be contacted at theleperfromwatts@yahoo.com or @coryhughey on Twitter.

David Wood is our Links Editor. He is a 2012 Graduate of Syracuse University with an English degree who loves bikes, beer, basketball, writing, and Rimbaud. He can be reached on Twitter: @nothingwood.

Mallory Factor is the voice of Cavs: The Podcast. By day Mallory works in fundraising and by night he runs a music business company. To see his music endeavors check out www.fivetracks.com. Hit him up at Malloryfactorii@gmail.com or @Malfii.

John Krolik is the Editor Emeritus of Cavs: The Blog. At present, he is pursuing a law degree at Tulane University. You can contact him at johnkrolik@gmail.com or @johnkrolik.

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